The California Aqueduct, part of the State Water Project, is seen in this aerial photo by the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

State water officials announced Tuesday they are bumping up the allocation for the State Water Project up to 40%, up from 30% last month.

The State Water Project supplies 27 million Californians and farmers in 29 public water agencies. The increase means an additional 420,000 acre-feet of water.

The allocation is based on an 800,000 acre-foot increase in storage at Lake Oroville and the latest snow survey data from April 1, which found the snowpack at 99% of average.

During the spring, the ability to move water supply south through the system will continue to be impacted by the presence of threatened and endangered fish species near the State Water Project pumping facility in the south Delta, according to state water officials.

The presence of these fish species has triggered state and federal regulations that significantly reduce the pumping from the Delta into the California Aqueduct. This reduction in pumping has limited the ability to move and store water into San Luis Reservoir. This reduced pumping is expected to continue into late spring. The State Water Project anticipates increasing its pumping significantly this summer as soon as the fishery conditions and our State and federal operating permits allow.

“This year highlights the challenges of moving water in wet periods with the current pumping infrastructure in the south Delta. We had both record low pumping for a wet year and high fish salvage at the pumps,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “We need to be moving water when it’s wet so that we can ease conditions for people and fish when dry conditions return. It’s one more reason the Delta Conveyance Project, which would move water when the flows are high in a manner safer for fish, is a necessary climate adaptation project for California.”

The restricted pumping situation was not lost on the State Water Contractors, an association of 27 public water agencies. Jennifer Pierre, general manager, released the following statement:

“While we are glad to see this modest allocation increase for public water agencies who rely on SWP supplies, it is still far below the amount of water we need. Water deliveries should be far higher in a good water year like we’ve had — there is a lot of water in the system, California reservoirs are full, and runoff from snowpack melt is still to come. Today’s modest allocation highlights just how difficult it is to operate within current regulatory constraints and with infrastructure in need of modernization. Even in a good water year, moving water effectively and efficiently under the current regime is difficult.”